Biographies

Dr. Piper currently oversees the County's social services, community development and information technology services portfolio. The social services portfolio manages and operates programs serving seniors, children and their families, low income residents, homeless individuals, public housing needs, and community and economic development programs.  Countywide technology services include payroll, telephone and other communication devices, public safety radio systems, electronic hardware and numerous software applications and databases. Dr. Piper also serves on the Board of the Early Learning Coalition of Florida as the County Mayor's representative

Earlier portfolios included oversight of the County's Finance Department, Human Resources, Small Business Development, the Office of Fair Employment Practices, the social services departments, and the County's utility departments; Water and Sewer, Solid Waste Management, and Enterprise Technology Services.

In his role as Special Assistant for Management and Performance, Dr. Piper was responsible for conducting management and performance assessments in all areas of County operations ranging from construction, engineering, technology management, general services, and related business functions. Operational reviews encompass departmental operations and business practices to identify and implement solution to address significant business issues, mitigate business risks, and to increase program effectiveness.

Previously, Dr. Piper served as the deputy director for the Department of Procurement Management responsible for managing the County's procurements and as Director of the Department of Human Resources managing personnel services for county staff and 10 trade unions.

Dr. Piper also served as an Assistant to the County Manager for Strategic Management Initiatives. His work supported the County's initiative to meet the public's expectations for efficient, responsive and quality County service delivery. This included a focus on strategic and business planning, finance, performance measures and performance improvement initiatives.  In addition, Dr. Piper supported the Special Assistant for Strategic Management initiatives responsible for oversight of the Finance Department, Employee Relations Department, Department of Strategic Business Management, the Property Appraisal Department and the General Services Administration Department. Additionally, he provided staff support to the Internal Management and Fiscal Responsibility Committee of the Board of County Commissioners and the Mayor's Efficiency and Competition Commission. He was also a part of the Manager's Project team the spearheaded the development of 2004 General Obligation Bond Program and the promotional campaign for its passage.

Prior to this assignment, Dr. Piper served as the manager of the Office of Performance Improvement (OPI) where he directed various internal consulting projects, including management and efficiency projects, managed competition initiatives, and best practices reviews, as well as the implementation of innovative programs and improvement initiatives countywide.  He was part of the management team responsible for the completion of the County's first Countywide Strategic Plan, development of employee gain sharing program and development of standards for countywide rollout of employee participation programs.

Dr. Piper is trained engineer and holds both doctoral and masters degrees in Business Administration. He joined Miami-Dade County in 1998 and brings a wealth of domestic and international professional experience in engineering, consulting, business management and public policy in both the public and private sectors.